CLM Fall 2018

CHARLOTTE EAST
A Tribute to an East Charlotte Advocate
For the third year, Aldersgate invited
its neighbors for a big lawn party,
and everyone who came had a ball.
“Our wooded campus is 231 acres,”
said Erin Barbee, Aldersgate’s director
of mission advancement and
chair of this year’s festival. “It’s an
honor to host everyone – and especially
our eastside neighbors.”
Kids of all ages enjoyed music, dancing, “creative”
sandwich-making, free face painting, balloon
artistry and delicious food from all over the world.
The celebration was emceed by Hardin Minor.
By: Maureen Gilewski, Co-Chair CharlotteEAST
I met David High in 2016 when he joined the
CharlotteEAST board. David was employed as the
Director of Strategic Planning and Development
at Aldersgate Continuing Care Retirement
Community (CCRC), a highly respected 70-year
East Charlotte non-profit business. In 2017, David
became an active voice on the CharlotteEAST
board, and began sharing with me Aldersgate’s
community mission. Aldersgate was well into
their mission to open the gates and embrace the
diverse East Charlotte community beyond them.
David was 100% on board with
the mission, because not only
was Aldersgate talking about
East Charlotte’s economic and
social capital issues, they
were also walking the walk by
investing in the community.
At CharlotteEAST, David was
Chair of our Neighborhood Task
Force, which was a natural
complement to the mission of
Aldersgate. In April 2018, under his direction, the
Neighborhood Task Force had its first East community
leadership meeting called T3 – Together
Towards Tomorrow.
David quickly became a familiar face and
voice in the East community. To launch the mission,
he contacted neighborhood leaders and
began attending neighborhood meetings.
David spoke enthusiastically about the process
Aldersgate was using to build relationships
with the diverse communities of people surrounding
their 231-acre campus. In early 2017,
David invited me to attend the pilot Story Circle
Group used for community engagement. By the
end of that same year, the community relationship
building phase was complete. Although
David was not a resident of the East Charlotte
community, he was a huge champion. He established
numerous relationships with area
residents, businesses, non-profits, and elected
officials. David was always eager to engage and
connect with new partners. If I suggested he
introduce someone to Aldersgate and the East
Charlotte community to advance the mission,
he readily accepted and scheduled a personal
tour of the property and a chat about the mission.
His passion for the mission was contagious!
Sadly, David passed away unexpectedly on
July 12, 2018. He led the way for the East community
on this remarkable mission. We saw
him engage and partner with respect and inclusiveness
in our diverse community.
CHARLOTTE LI V I NG | 29